Aircraft warning lights for towers



y 1965 M. L. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,197,629-

AIRCRAFT WARNING LIGHTS FOR TOWERS Filed Jan. 17, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5 I I I3 3 f l I 3 as Q31 I 28 I 34 -33 I (P? I FIG 2 l I I WARREN P. JENSEN MERLIN L. WILLIAMS INVENTOR.

A T TORNE YS M. L. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,197,629

AIRCRAFT WARNING LIGHTS FOR TOWERS July 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 17, 1963 FIG . ri.\-d

FIG

WARREN: PP. JENSEN? MERLIN L,. ililLLlA-M S AT TORNEYS United States Patent C) 3,197,629 AIRCRAFT WARNING LIGHTS FOR TOWERS Merlin Lloyd Williams, Spokane, and Warren P. Jensen,

Seattle, Wash, assignors to Electrical Products Consolidated, Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Filed Jan. 17, 1963, er. No. 252,169 13 Claims. (Cl. Mil-11.4)

This invention relates to aircraft Warning lights for high towers commonly used in radio, television and electrical transmission.

Access toysuch is necessarily difiicult, and therefore it is of importance to provide lighting fixtures which are re- -liable in operation and in which the lighting elements can be easily replaced once the electrician has climbed to the elevation of the fixture- Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide an improved lighting fixture in which the lighting elements are well shielded from the weather while remaining visible through a maximum vision angle, and yet which permits the lighting elements to be easily replaced. I

With yet additional objects and advantages in view which, with the foregoing, will appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view illustrating a preferred system of mounting the lighting units with related transformer boxes on the tower.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cut-away view of a lighting assembly embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a detail vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings it is seen that the light source for the present invention comprises sets of neon tubes 11 or the like formed to an elongated U-shape thereby loeating their electrodes 12 in juxtaposition. Each set is mounted within a transparent tubular shield 13, preferably of a-clear, rigid, hard plastic material such as Plexiglas, and with the electrodes 12 projecting above the shield. For purposes of example I have shown two tubes per shield, such being held in parallel spaced relation by spacers 14 which are bonded to the inside wall of the shield at regular intervals of the length thereof. The shield may be fabricated by butted tube sections which are provided with spacers 14a at the joints, these spacers and the butting ends of the shield sections being bonded together by a suitable adhesive. Alined holes 15 are formed in the spacers to receive the lighting tubes, and in addition, marginal drain and ventilating openings 16 are provided so that any condensation forming within the shield may flow downwardly therethrough and to insure proper ventilation in hot climates.

To secure the light tubes against longitudinal displacement relative to their shield a cross-block 17 is bonded to the inner wall of the shield near the lower end thereof. The bottom face of this block 17 has a pair of generally semi-circular transverse grooves 18 formed therein, and as seen in FIG. 2, the bottom of each of these grooves is convexly shaped longitudinally of the groove in such a manner as to conform to the top portion of the elbow of the tubes 11. Any suitable fastening means may be used to secure the tubes to the block 17, one example being shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. In this example, a tie Wire 19 for each tube is fed through a pair of holes 20 bored laterally through the block at a point above the level of the ice grooves 18 after the tie wire has been looped around the tube at oneside of the block. The ends of the tie wire are then brought together around the base of the tube at the other side of the block and wound together tightly so as to seat the respective tube firmly in its groove 19. With the set of tubes thus secured within the shield, the tu-bes,shield, spacers, and tube fastening means, comprise a tubular lighting assembly which can be readily handled in the field as a unit.

When installed the lighting assemblies are mounted one above another between vertically alined hoods 21 which extend outwardly from transformer boxes 22. These boxes are in turn mounted on their opposite sides as by screw clamps 23 to an outer vertical structural member 24 of the tower to be lighted. Each hood 21 has a bottom opening 25 which is purposely larger in diameter than the shields 13 and is fitted with a resilient gasket ring 26 formed as of sponge rubber to receive and press snugly against the respective shield for making a weathertight fit therewith while at the same time permitting the shield to be cocked at an angle with the vertical during installation and removal in the manner to be subsequently described. In its top Wall each hood 21 presents a drain and ventilating opening surrounded by an upwardly projecting annular mounting flange 27 of a size to fit within the lower end of shield 13. To keep the shield seated on the flange 27 it is aflixed with a bottom collar, 28 having a notch 30 formed in its top edge for receiving a re,- leasable clamp. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 this clamp may comprise a one-piece spring clip 31 formed with a central double-ply locking lip 32 projecting into the notch 30. The lower ply of the lip 32 is an acute angular extension of a spring leg 33 which projects upwardly at right angles from an anchoring leg 34 bolted at,35 to the upper wall of the hood. The upper ply of the lip 32 is doubled whack over the lowerply and continues as a push lever 36 which projects at an obtuse angle relative to the spring leg 33. With this arrangement, manual depress-ion of the lever 36 causes the spring leg 33 to deflect outwardly from its juncture with the anchoring leg 34 and thereby withdraws the lip 32 from the notch 30 to free therelated shield for upward movement. v Such movement is possible after release of the clamp because the center-to-center spacing of the hoods 21purposely exceeds the overall length of each lighting assembly.

Power leads 37 extend into the hoods 21 from transformers 38 mounted in the related boxes 22. These leads carry suitable terminal fittings 40 which may include pierced ears 41 sleeved onto the tube terminals 12 and held in place .by spring arms 42. A ground lead 43 for each set of lighting tubes is connected at its ends to the hood and to the bar 44 of a duo-terminal fitting 45 having at its ends ears and spring arms 47 the same as 41-42.

To remove oneof the lighting assemblies for replacement in case of tube failure the electrician need only depress the clip lever 36, lift the shield 13 free of the flange 27, tilt the shield to swing its lower end away from the underlying hood, and then lower the upper end of the tilted shield away from the gasket 26. In the latter regard, there is sufficient slack provided in the leads 37, 43 to permit the lowering of the shield to be continued, prior to disconnecting the leads, until the terminals 12 are exposed at the mouth of the gasket 26. Then the terminal fittings on the leads can be easily detached to completely free the lighting assembly merely by pressing the spring arms 42 and sliding olf the ears 41 from the terminals 12. The electrician may then simply replace the lighting assembly with a spare unit by reversing the described removal operation, or may replace the expired tube or tubes on the site or after withdrawing to a more convenient repair location and then reinsert the renewed unit.

It will be understood that by the above described arrangement a chain of light assemblies of any desired length can be erected without effecting the freedom of independent removal of any link for repair or replacement. Preferably the top of the uppermost hood 21 in the chain is closed by a cap fitting over the respective mounting flange 27.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the now preferred illustrated embodiment of the invention. Changes in details will suggest themselves and it is our intention, therefore, that no limitations be implied that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

What we claim is:

1. A lighting fixture compnising top and bottom vertically spaced and aligned hoods fixed relative to one another, said bottom hood presenting upwardly projecting flange means and said top hood being formed with a bottom opening surrounded by a resilient gasket ring, an upright elongated tubular lighting unit seated on said bottom hood and interfitting with said flange means, the upper end portion of said lighting unit extending upwardly through a sealing interfit with said gasket into said top hood and being spaced from the upper end thereof a distance exceeding the height of said flange means whereby said lighting unit can be removed with said hoods remaining fixed relative to one another by lifting it from said flange means, and tilting'it within said gasket to swing the lower end thereof away from said bottom hood, and then lowering the tilted lighting unit endwise away from said top hood.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said lighting unit has terminals exposed within said top hood, and power leads in said top hood detachably connected to said terminals.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said lighting unit comprises a transparent tubular shield and a lighting tube detachably fixed therein.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which said lighting unit comprises a transparent tubular shield having spaced transverse spacers fixed therein each with a pair of openings extending lengthwise of the shield, and a lighting tube of elongated U-shape extending through said openings, and detachable anchor means in said shield for holding said lighting tube against endW-ise movement relative to the shield.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said spacers have drain openings therethrough, said shield is open at its ends, and said bottom hood has a bottom opening.

6. The structure of claim 1 in which said hoods are mounted on vertically spaced transformer boxes and said lighting unit has terminals exposed within said top hood, a power lead extending from the respective said box into said top hood and a ground lead in said top hood, said leads being detachably connected to said terminals;

7. A lighting fixture comprising a series of vertically spaced transformer boxes adapted to be secured at regularly spaced intervals to the side of a tower, vertically alined hoods projecting horizontally one from each of said boxes, and a column of independently removable elongated upright lighting units extending between said hoods and detachably therefrom without movement of the hoods relative to the transformer boxes or associated tower.

8. The structure of claim 7 in which each of said hoods has a top opening surrounded by an upwardly projecting flange and has a bottom opening surrounded by a resilient gasket, and in which each of said lighting units includes an outer transparent tubular shield interfitting at the bottom with the related said flange and extending at the top through the related said gasket.

9. The structure of claim 7 in which each of said lighting units includes a lighting tube of elongated U-shape detachably fixed in the respective said shield and presenting a pair of terminals exposed in the hood into which the upper end of the respective shield extends, power leads from the transformerboxes into the respective hoods and ground leads into the hoods, and means detachably connecting said power and ground leads'to said terminals.

10. The structure of claim 8 in which each of said shields has a fixed collar at the bottom with an upwardly exposed notch therein, and spring clip means anchored at the top of said hoods and detachably fittinginto said notches.

11. A light fixture comprising a tubular transparent shield open at :its ends and having a plurality of spacers fixed intermediate its ends each with a pair of openings endwise therethrough, a tubular lighting element of elongated U-shape in said shield with its arms extending through said spacer openings and having their free ends with terminals projecting above the upper end of said shield, a cross-block fixed within the shield and engaged by the upper face of the elbow portion of the lighting element, and means detachably securing said lighting element to said cross-block.

12.,Tl1e structure of claim 11 in which each of said spacers have multiple pairs of openings therethrough, and a respective said lighting element for each such pair.

13. The structure of claim 11 in which said shield has a continuous drain path by saidspacers and cross-block.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,464,971 3/49 Flood 2401 1.4 2,574,886 11/51 Phillips 240-25 2,791,679 '5/57 Hierholzer et al. 2401l.4 2,814,720 11/57 Martin 240-4155 2,892,994 6/59 Ingraham 2401.2 2,932,004 4/60 Zurcher 24084 2,976,399 3/ 61 Christy 240-l1.4

FOREIGN PATENTS 218,860 3/09 Germany. 477,560 1/3 8 Great Britain.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LIGHTING FIXTURE COMPRISING TOP AND BOTTOM VERTICALLY SPACED AND ALIGNED HOODS FIXED RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER, SAID BOTTOM HOOD PRESENTING UPWARDLY PROJECTING FLANGE MEANS AND SAID TOP HOOD BEING FORMED WITH A BOTTOM OPENING SURROUNDED BY A RESILIENT GASKET RING, AN UPRIGHT ELONGATED TUBULAR LIGHTING UNIT SEATED ON SAID BOTTOM HOOD AN INTERFITTING WITH SAID FLANGE MEANS, THE UPPER END PORTION OF SAID LIGHTING UNIT EXTENDING UPWARDLY THROUGH A SEALING INTERFIT WITH SAID GASKET INTO SAID TOP HOOD AND BEING SPACED FROM THE UPPER END THEREOF DISTANCE EXCEEDING THE HEIGHT OF SAID FLANGE MEANS WHEREBY SAID LIGHTING UNIT CAN BE REMOVED WITH SAID HOODS REMAIN- 